Employee Profile

Simon Galle

Associate Professor

Department of Economics

Room number B3I-033
Phone +4746410141
E-mail simon.galle@bi.no

Biography

Simon Galle is Associate Professor at BI Norwegian Business School. His research focuses on questions in Development & Growth and International Trade. Simon earned his PhD at UC Berkeley and holds a Master in Economics from the Université Libre de Bruxelles and undergraduate degrees in Economics and Philosophy from KULeuven.

Here are Simon's personal website, Google Scholar profile, and curriculum vitae.

Area of Expertise

Globalisation
International trade
USA
Development economics
Empirical economics
Labor Economics

Publications

Shows 4 of 4 publication(s)

Article Simon Galle, Linnea Lorentzen (2024)

The unequal effects of trade and automation across local labor markets

Journal of International Economics 150 p. 1-26 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinteco.2024.103912

We quantify the joint impact of the China shock and automation of labor, across US commuting zones (CZs) in the period 2000–2007. To this end, we employ a multi-sector gravity model of trade with Roy-Fréchet worker heterogeneity across sectors, where labor input can be automated. Automation and increased import competition from China are both sector-specific; they lead to contractions in a sector’s labor demand and a decline in relative income for CZs more specialized in that sector, amplified by a voluntary reduction in hours worked and an increase in frictional unemployment. The estimated model fits well with the aggregate performance of manufacturing subsectors and with the variation across CZs in changes in average income, the hourly wage, hours worked, the employment rate and employment in manufacturing. By itself, the China shock has stronger distributional effects than automation, but its impact on aggregate gains is less than a third of automation’s impact.

Article Simon Galle, Andres Rodriguez-Clare, Moises Yi (2022)

Slicing the Pie: Quantifying the Aggregate and Distributional Effects of Trade

Review of Economic Studies 90(1) p. 331-375 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdac020

We develop a multi-sector gravity model with heterogeneous workers to quantify the aggregate and group-level welfare effects of trade. The model generalizes the specific-factors intuition to a setting with labor reallocation, leads to a parsimonious formula for the group-level welfare effects from trade, and nests the aggregate results in Arkolakis et al. (2012). We estimate the model using the structural relationship between China-shock driven changes in manufacturing employment and average earnings across US groups defined as commuting zones. We find that the China shock increases average welfare but some groups experience losses as high as four times the average gain. However, adjusting for plausible measures of inequality aversion barely affects the welfare gains. We also develop and estimate an extension of the model that endogenizes labor force participation and unemployment, finding similar welfare effects from the China shock.

Article Kjetil Bjorvatn, Simon Galle, Lars Ivar Oppedal Berge, Edward Miguel, Daniel Posner, Bertil Tungodden, Kelly Zhang (2021)

Elections and selfishness

Electoral Studies: an international journal on voting and electoral systems and strategy 69 p. 1-6 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2020.102267

Elections affect the division of resources in society and are occasions for political elites to make appeals rooted in voters' self-interest. Hence, elections may erode altruistic norms and cause people to behave more selfishly. We test this intuition using Dictator Games in a lab-in-the-field experiment involving a sample of more than 1000 individuals in Kenya and Tanzania. We adopt two approaches. First, we experimentally prime participants to think about the upcoming or most recent elections and find that this priming treatment reduces how much money participants are willing to give to other players. Second, we compare results obtained across lab rounds in Kenya taking place right before the country's 2013 national elections and eight months prior, and find that selfishness is greater in the lab round more proximate to the election. Our results suggest that elections may affect social behavior in important—and previously unrecognized—ways.

Article Lars Ivar Oppedal Berge, Kjetil Bjorvatn, Simon Galle, Edward Miguel, Daniel Posner, Bertil Tungodden, Kelly Zhang (2019)

Ethnically Biased? Experimental Evidence from Kenya

Journal of the European Economic Association 18(1) Doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/jeea/jvz003

Ethnicity has been shown to shape political, social, and economic behavior in Africa, but the underlying mechanisms remain contested. We utilize lab experiments to isolate one mechanism—an individual’s bias in favor of coethnics and against non-coethnics—that has been central in both theory and in the conventional wisdom about the impact of ethnicity. We employ an unusually rich research design involving a large sample of 1,300 participants from Nairobi, Kenya; the collection of multiple rounds of experimental data with varying proximity to national elections; within-lab priming conditions; both standard and novel experimental measures of coethnic bias; and an implicit association test (IAT). We find very little evidence of an ethnic bias in the behavioral games, which runs against the common presumption of extensive coethnic bias among ordinary Africans and suggests that mechanisms other than a coethnic bias in preferences must account for the associations we see in the region between ethnicity and political, social and economic outcomes.

Shows 5 of 34 publication(s)

Article Simon Galle (2025)

De Nobelprijs Economie: afschaffen of opwaarderen?

Karakter: Tijdschrift van Wetenschap 90 Doi: https://www.tijdschriftkarakter.be/de-nobelprijs-economie-afschaffen-of-opwaarderen/

De Nobelprijs Economie ligt onder vuur. Critici stellen dat economie geen echte wetenschap is en dat de prijs een misleidende autoriteit verleent aan een discipline die vaak ideologisch gemotiveerd is. Sommigen pleiten zelfs voor afschaffing. Valt de prijs alsnog te rechtvaardigen, en zo ja, hoe?

Conference lecture Fenella Carpena, Simon Galle (2023)

Aarhus presentation of: "The Labor Market Effects of Technical Change: A Simple Model."

FIND Seminar

Conference lecture Simon Galle, Linnea Lorentzen (2022)

Presentation of The Unequal Effects of Trade and Automation across Local Labor Markets

TILBURG GROWTH, TRADE AND INTERNATIONAL FINANCE CONFERENCE

Conference lecture Simon Galle, Linnea Lorentzen (2022)

SETC Presentation of: "The Unequal Effects of Trade and Automation across Local Labor Markets."

Sardinia Empirical Trade Conference

Conference lecture Simon Galle, Linnea Lorentzen (2022)

NCRDEM Presentation of "The Unequal Effects of Trade and Automation across Local Labor Markets."

Nordic Conference on Register Data and Economic Modelling

Conference lecture Simon Galle, Linnea Lorentzen (2022)

NOITS Presentation of "The Unequal Effects of Trade and Automation across Local Labor Markets."

Nordic International Trade Seminars

Conference lecture Simon Galle, Linnea Lorentzen (2021)

LAMES presentation of "The Unequal Effects of Trade and Automation Across Local Labor Markets."

Latin American Meeting of the Econometric Society

Conference lecture Simon Galle, Linnea Lorentzen (2021)

ETSG presentation of "The Unequal Effects of Trade and Automation Across Local Labor Markets."

European Trade Study Group 2021

Conference lecture Simon Galle, Linnea Lorentzen (2021)

Mannheim ZEW presentation of "The Unequal Effects of Trade and Automation Across Local Labor Markets."

ZEW EPos Workshop on Labour Market Adjustments to Globalisation and New Technologies

Conference lecture Simon Galle (2021)

ODEW presentation of "Market Power, Financial Constraints and Firm Growth."

Inaugural Oslo Development Economics Workshop

Conference lecture Simon Galle, Linnea Lorentzen (2021)

Seminar presentation of: "The Unequal Effects of Trade and Automation across Local Labor Markets."

Seminar at the University of Paris 1

Conference lecture Simon Galle (2020)

Market Power, Financial Constraints and Firm Growth: Micro and Macro-level Implications

European Winter Meeting of the Econometric Society

Conference lecture Simon Galle, Linnea Lorentzen (2020)

ESWC presentation of The Unequal Effects of Trade and Automation on Local Labor Markets

Econometric Society World Congress 2020

Conference lecture Simon Galle, Andres Rodriguez-Clare, Moises Yi (2019)

Presentation at NOITS of "Slicing the Pie: Quantifying the Aggregate and Distributional Effects of Trade."

20th Annual NOITS workshop

Conference lecture Simon Galle, Andres Rodriguez-Clare, Moises Yi (2019)

Seminar presentation of "Slicing the Pie: Quantifying the Aggregate and Distributional Effects of Trade."

Seminar at Kiel University and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy

Article Simon Galle (2019)

Competition, Financial Constraints and Misallocation: Plant-level Evidence from Indian Manufacturing

PEDL Research Notes

Conference lecture Simon Galle, Linnea Lorentzen (2019)

The Unequal Effects of Trade and Automation on Local Labor Markets

21st European Trade Study Group

Conference lecture Simon Galle (2018)

IHEID Dept Seminar presentation of "Competition, Financial Constraints and Misallocation: Plant-level Evidence from Indian Manufacturing."

IHEID Geneva Department Seminar

Conference lecture Simon Galle (2018)

Seminar Presentation of "Competition, Financial Constraints and Misallocation: Plant-level Evidence from Indian Manufacturing"

Gothenburg Department Seminar

Conference lecture Simon Galle, Andres Rodriguez-Clare, Moises Yi (2018)

Oslo Macro Group presentation of "Slicing the Pie: Quantifying the Aggregate and Distributional Effects of Trade"

Oslo Macro Group

Conference lecture Simon Galle, Andres Rodriguez-Clare, Moises Yi (2018)

ESWM Conference presentation of "Slicing the Pie: Quantifying the Aggregate and Distributional Effects of Trade."

Econometric Society Winter Meetings

Conference lecture Simon Galle, Andres Rodriguez-Clare, Moises Yi (2018)

OBS Department Seminar presentation of "Slicing the Pie: Quantifying the Aggregate and Distributional Effects of Trade

Department Seminar

Conference lecture Simon Galle, Andres Rodriguez-Clare, Moises Yi (2017)

Workshop presentation of "Slicing the Pie: Quantifying the Aggregate and Distributional Effects of Trade."

European Strains Workshop

Conference lecture Simon Galle, Andres Rodriguez-Clare, Moises Yi (2017)

Conference presentation of "Slicing the Pie: Quantifying the Aggregate and Distributional Effects of Trade."

Christmas Meeting of Belgian Economists

Conference lecture Simon Galle (2017)

Normac workshop presentation of "Competition, Financial Constraints and Misallocation: Plant-level Evidence from Indian Manufacturing."

11th Nordic Summer Symposium in Macroeconomics

Conference lecture Simon Galle (2017)

Seminar presentation at NHH: "Competition, Financial Constraints and Misallocation: Plant-level Evidence from Indian Manufacturing."

Department Seminar, joint with The Choice Lab Seminar

Conference lecture Simon Galle, Andres Rodriguez-Clare, Moises Yi (2017)

Academic Degrees
Year	Academic Department	Degree
2016	University of California at Berkeley	PhD
2010	Université Libre de Bruxelles	Master of Economics
2008	KULeuven	B.A. in Economics
2006	KULeuven	Master of Philosophy

Work Experience
Year	Employer	Job Title
2020 - Present	BI Norwegian Business School	Associate professor
2016 - 2020	BI Norwegian Business School	Assistant professor

BI Business Review articles:

BI Business Review

Elections can make us more selfish

New evidence from East Africa suggests generosity declines as balloting approaches.

Simon Galle

Biography

Area of Expertise

Publications

The unequal effects of trade and automation across local labor markets

Slicing the Pie: Quantifying the Aggregate and Distributional Effects of Trade

Elections and selfishness

Ethnically Biased? Experimental Evidence from Kenya

De Nobelprijs Economie: afschaffen of opwaarderen?

Aarhus presentation of: "The Labor Market Effects of Technical Change: A Simple Model."

Presentation of The Unequal Effects of Trade and Automation across Local Labor Markets

SETC Presentation of: "The Unequal Effects of Trade and Automation across Local Labor Markets."

NCRDEM Presentation of "The Unequal Effects of Trade and Automation across Local Labor Markets."

NOITS Presentation of "The Unequal Effects of Trade and Automation across Local Labor Markets."

LAMES presentation of "The Unequal Effects of Trade and Automation Across Local Labor Markets."

ETSG presentation of "The Unequal Effects of Trade and Automation Across Local Labor Markets."

Mannheim ZEW presentation of "The Unequal Effects of Trade and Automation Across Local Labor Markets."

ODEW presentation of "Market Power, Financial Constraints and Firm Growth."

Seminar presentation of: "The Unequal Effects of Trade and Automation across Local Labor Markets."

Market Power, Financial Constraints and Firm Growth: Micro and Macro-level Implications

ESWC presentation of The Unequal Effects of Trade and Automation on Local Labor Markets

Presentation at NOITS of "Slicing the Pie: Quantifying the Aggregate and Distributional Effects of Trade."

Seminar presentation of "Slicing the Pie: Quantifying the Aggregate and Distributional Effects of Trade."

Competition, Financial Constraints and Misallocation: Plant-level Evidence from Indian Manufacturing

The Unequal Effects of Trade and Automation on Local Labor Markets

IHEID Dept Seminar presentation of "Competition, Financial Constraints and Misallocation: Plant-level Evidence from Indian Manufacturing."

Seminar Presentation of "Competition, Financial Constraints and Misallocation: Plant-level Evidence from Indian Manufacturing"

Oslo Macro Group presentation of "Slicing the Pie: Quantifying the Aggregate and Distributional Effects of Trade"

ESWM Conference presentation of "Slicing the Pie: Quantifying the Aggregate and Distributional Effects of Trade."

OBS Department Seminar presentation of "Slicing the Pie: Quantifying the Aggregate and Distributional Effects of Trade

Workshop presentation of "Slicing the Pie: Quantifying the Aggregate and Distributional Effects of Trade."

Conference presentation of "Slicing the Pie: Quantifying the Aggregate and Distributional Effects of Trade."

Normac workshop presentation of "Competition, Financial Constraints and Misallocation: Plant-level Evidence from Indian Manufacturing."

Seminar presentation at NHH: "Competition, Financial Constraints and Misallocation: Plant-level Evidence from Indian Manufacturing."

Workshop Presentation of: "Slicing The Pie: Quantifying The Aggregate and Distributional Effects of Trade."

DIE Workshop presentation of "Slicing the Pie: Quantifying the Aggregate and Distributional Effects of Trade."

Measuring ethnic preferences: New experimental evidence

ETSG Conference Presentation of "Slicing The Pie: Quantifying the Aggregate and Distributional Effects of Trade"

Competition, Financial Constraints and Misallocation: Plant-level Evidence from Indian Manufacturing

Mannheim Seminar presentation of "Slicing The Pie: Quantifying the Aggregate and Distributional Effects of Trade"

How Strong Are Ethnic Preferences?

Slicing The Pie: Quantifying the Aggregate and Distributional Effects of Trade

BI Business Review articles:

Elections can make us more selfish